SPIRITUAL LIFE: Same message, new spin

The Easter story has become for many a little ho-hum, a prelude to the egg hunt, Sunday brunch, a springboard into pastel clothes. I've been guilty.

By Suzette Martinez-StandringFor The Patriot Ledger

God-Man, I like that name for Jesus. God-Man sounds like a superhero. God-Man zinged into my ears during a Sunday service while I was recently in Dayton, and I loved its fresh and unfamiliar sound.

Easter is upon us, and for those raised in a Christian tradition, words like crucifixion, resurrection, and eternal life can lose their superpower punch. The Easter story has become for many a little ho-hum, a prelude to the egg hunt, Sunday brunch, a springboard into pastel clothes. I’ve been guilty.

“God-Man” got my imagination going. Make no mistake. Christians do not see Jesus as a mythical hero. For those of faith, Jesus is real, fully God and fully human, (God-Man!). Believers hold that the Resurrection is proof that he lands a knockout punch to the finality of death. Life eternal is not about the physical plane, but then he was clear about that. In John 18:36, on his way to the cross, Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

Meanwhile whenever I tangled up in drama, I pray, “If you can rise from the dead, then surely solving my issue is a spit in the ocean!” There are times when what I want feels about as impossible as Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak: a way to surrender, to stay positive and believe. To tame hate into kindness feels insurmountable in the face of evil or unjust suffering. Yet courage, resiliency and especially hope are not self-manufactured. They are the miracles aplenty from God.

I do find comfort in the “man” in God-Man. Jesus hungered, was tempted, got tired and wept. His horrific suffering and death are proof of his humanness. Yet Jesus’ divinity allowed him to rise from the dead as foretold by centuries of prophecy.

Speaking of future vision, Jesus from a young age must have known all the gory details of what was to come. Most of us would go mad if we knew the date of our death, yet here is Jesus with foreknowledge of the worst, pushing on toward ultimate victory.

God does not reign as a distant, nebulous concept, but relates intimately to our joy or desolation. Shake a fist heavenward with cries of “Seriously?” or “Why me (or him or her)?” or “Yoo-hoo, down here, have you forgotten?” Psalm 40:1 reads, “I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.” It takes faith to simmer down and wait for a plan.

And God had one, and that, my friend, is Easter.

Email Suzette Standring: suzmar@comcast.net or visit www.readsuzette.com She is syndicated with GateHouse Media and authored The Art of Opinion Writing: Insider Secrets from Top Op-Ed Columnists